One of the NBA’s smaller market teams has made some sneakily good free agent signings over the weekend to an already promising, young roster.

The Sacramento Kings not only re-signed forward Harrison Barnes (four-years, $85 million), but also have added center Dewayne Dedmon (three-years, $41 million), forward Trevor Ariza (two-years, $25 million), and guard Cory Joseph (three-years, $37 million).

The Kings are coming off a season where they finished with a record of 39-43, good for ninth in the Western Conference. The Kings, who have not made the NBA playoffs since 2006, will be looking to break a 13 season postseason drought during the 2019/2020 NBA Season. With the additions that the Kings have made, it is hard to see them missing the playoffs once again.

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Barnes, 27, averaged 16.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game last season after being traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Kings. Barnes also shot 42% from the field and 40% from three-point range.

Dedmon, 29, is coming off a season for the Atlanta Hawks where he averaged 10.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game on 49% shooting, including a stellar 38% from three-point range, a surprise considering Dedmon is a center. Dedmon moves well for a center, fitting in with the Kings fast-paced offensive system.

Ariza, 34, spent time with both the Pheonix Suns and the Washington Wizards last season. Ariza is one of the best 3-and-D players in basketball. Ariza averaged 14.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game while with the Wizards.

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Joseph, 27, averaged 6.5 points and 3.9 assists per game for the Pacers last season, serving as the backup point guard to Darren Collison. Joseph is expected to have a similar role with the Kings, serving as the backup point guard to De’Aaron Fox.

These additions add on to an already impressive young core for the Kings. Led by Fox, the Kings also bolster Marvin Bagley III, Buddy Hield, Bogan Bogdanovic, and Harry Giles. Look out Western Conference because there is a new, young contender in town.

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After a brutal road loss to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Clippers rebounded Wednesday to secure a 104-98 home victory over the Toronto Raptors in their second pre-season game.

Blake Griffin Throws Shoe, Hits Opponent In Face

Wednesday’s exhibition game was marked, however, by a rather strange incident. With about six minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Clippers’ Jamal Crawford’s sneaker fell off while ball-handling, so his teammate Blake Griffin picked it up for him near the arc, probably so nobody would trip on hit, but also because Crawford passed the ball to Griffin, and the latter had to focus on receiving the pass well. Thus, Griffin tossed the shoe without looking, thinking he was going to do Crawford a favor by returning his sneaker. However, Griffin’s throw was awful, so much so that the shoe ended up hitting Raptors point guard Cory Joseph right in the face.

Here is the shoe toss:

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Joseph, naturally, immediately clutched his face and then motioned for someone to notice the unusual foul play.

Griffin set the tone for Los Angeles, scoring 24 points on 10-for-13 shooting, adding eight rebounds and dishing out five assists. He also went 2-for-3 on three-pointers.

DeAndre Jordan had a double-double, with 14 points and 10 rebounds, and also made four of six free throws.

Chris Paul, who had more fouls (five) than points (one) against the Warriors, had 15 assists along with seven points and six rebounds.

Still, Clippers coach Doc Rivers vows to continue to push his team all season to become one of the free teams.

“I would say Cleveland and Golden State [are free teams]. I don’t think there’s anybody more than that,” Rivers said. “You can look at all kinds of series last year and you can see it. When things get tough, things changed. It takes a while. That’s a tough one.”

Rivers also added he had planned on not playing J.J. Redick against the Raptors “because he wanted to take it slow” with his shooting guard. Raymond Felton started instead. Rookie forward Brice Johnson limped to the locker room in the fourth quarter, accompanied by a member of the team’s training staff.

After trailing by as much as 20 in the second half, Toronto scored 19 in a row in the 4th quarter to go up 91-90 with 3:49 left in the game. The Raptors rested Kyle Lowry for the game.

The Clippers will next host the Utah Jazz on Monday, while the Raptors will visit the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 13.

Caption:LOS ANGELES, CA – DECEMBER 25: Blake Griffin #32 of the Los Angeles Clippers jumps to the basket for a layup against the Los Angeles Lakers in the first half at Staples Center on December 25, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. The Clippers defeated the Lakers 94-84.